We are Natour and Salt Field Trips, tourism operators located in the city of Uyuni, near the Salar de Uyuni Bolivia, just 20 minutes from one of the 10 most natural attractions of the planet earth, the Salt Flats of Uyuni and our Uyuni Salt Flats Tour.We were born from the need to improve the seriousness and the quality of touring nature, which is growing constantly in the areas of the Uyuni Salt Flats and the South West area of Potosi, BoliviaWith multicolor landscapes: deserts, the Red Lagoon, the Green Lagoon and areas that look like Mars, stones carved by the winds, the Stone Tree, the Dali Valley in the protected area of the Eduardo Abaroa Reserve.From 2003, when we started until now Having fulfilled our first objective, we acquired experience, we saw that during the rainy season, we could visit the Uyuni Salt Flats during the evening or at night, when kaleidoscopic reflections are produced. At night the stars are reflected on the Uyuni Salt Lake, they make us feel as if we were walking in cyber space among the stars. All this have led us to create Uyuni Salt FlatsNight Tours or Uyuni Salt FlatsStar Tours.We use the best acommodation options in the region. Currently there are several hotels made with salt panes, specially extracted from the Uyuni Salt Flats for building these hotels (Tayka de Sal, Luna Salada, Cristal Samaña.)We have private transportation throughout, if you wish, with specialized multilingual guides: English/Spanish as well as other languages, such as Japanese, German, etc.We offer to organize your tour from La Paz or other cities such as Santa Cruz, Sucre, Cochabamba or Potosi, by land or by air. Transfer from Bolivia to Chile (Hito Cajones to San Pedro de Atacama), (Flights: Cusco to La Paz and La Paz to Uyuni or vice versa.Simply organize your tour however you wish, we are here to assist you.

Geology: Formation of the Salar de Uyuni Bolivia.

THE SALAR DE UYUNI (Salar de Thunupa)

A hundred millon years ago, the Andes did not exist. The region that today constitutes the Altiplano was at sea level and thick layers of marine salt deposited there as sediments. After the retreated of the seawater, these salt layers accumulated at great depth under more than 3000 metres of newer sediments.Twenty-five million years ago, the compression of the western side of the South American plate by the Pacific plate caused the formation of the Andes. As a result of this compression, the salt climbed through the faults and, after complexes processes, arrived at the surface, assisted by its relatively low density. Once on the surface on Bolivian Andes, the salt was dissolved by draining waters and transported by watercourses. Since the Altiplano is a basin closed to the east and west by two mountain ranges, the waters could drain neither towards the Atlantic nor towards the Pacific, and accumulated in the lowest parts of the basin. Because the northern Altiplano is higher (3850 m), the increasingly salt-laden waters drained to the south in the direction of today´s Salar de Uyuni or Salar de Thunupa. The Uyuni Salt Flat is the lowest part of Altiplano (3650m).15.000 years ago all the southern Altiplano was flooded by the inmense Lake Tauca, covering the actual Lake Poopo, and the salt lakes of Uyuni (or salt lakes of Thunupa) and Coipasa. The surface of Lake Tauca was at 3720 metres, which is 70 m above the present level of the Uyuni salt flats. Due probably to the melting of mountain glaciers and to an increase in rainfall, Lake Tauca persisted for 3.000 years before desiccating some 10.000 years ago to produce the Salar de Uyuni (Thunupa) as we know is today.Other flood-desiccation cycles existed before Lake Tauca: 40 to 25 thousand years ago, Lake or Sea Michin for instance, with a surface that was 100 m. above the present salt lake, also flooded all the southern part of the Altiplano for 15.000 years before drying out. These are the cycles that caused the successive sedimentations of the salt layers that are now found on the surface of the salt lake. It is possible that new floods will occur in the future and that large lakes will again cover the Salar de Thunupa (Uyuni) to add new deposits of salt.

NATOUR AND SALT FIELD TRIPS

Is a Travel and Tourism Organization – Tourism Operator – with a presence in the market since 2003, we have achieved prestige in the National and International Tourism Market. We have experienced professionals in the field. Our motto is to offer excellence in our services geared towards Total Quality, for which we are trained to offer all types of tourism information to fulfill one’s requirements and demands. We specialize in Receptive Tourism, adventure, mystery and have experience handling groups as well as individuals, assisting the tourist in organizing their trip with the necessary logistics such as transportation, lodging, bilingual guides, equipment, etc.